Final Fantasy XII version differences
This article lists version differences for Final Fantasy XII. ''Final Fantasy XII Release *Japanese release on March 16th, 2006. *North American release on October 31st, 2006. *European/PAL region release on February 23rd, 2007. Version differences *Original release of the game. *The North American and European versions feature a 16:9 widescreen mode with menus and the HUD designed for 4:3 screens. *The North American and European versions use to confirm and to cancel. It's the other way around in the original Japanese version. *The Crystalbug and Darkmare enemies have significantly more HP in the North American and European versions. The red Crystalbug now uses -ga level magick over -ra level magick. *Judge Bergan boss has been changed from a magick-user into a physical attacker. *In the Japanese version, Omega Mark XII has 10,370,699 HP, making him second only to Yiazmat. For the North American and PAL versions, its HP was reduced to 1,037,069, less than the Hell Wyrm and even a couple of the higher Marks. The North American and PAL versions also added the Berserk status effect onto Omega's attack. *The underflow glitch was removed from the European Platinum Hits version. *Some boss AIs are changed on releases after the Japanese version, including, but not limited to Vinuskar, and Hashmal. *In the Japanese version, even if a spell cast by a party member doesn't hit a target, the amount of MP to cast said spell is consumed. This was changed in later versions by not consuming MP if the spell doesn't connect. *There are several unskippable text cutscenes in the Japanese version. Some of these became skippable in later versions, and if they still aren't skippable, they now have voice acting instead of just text. *The scene where Penelo is being held hostage by Ba'Gamnan was censored in the Japanese version, but remains in the overseas versions. *Voice direction is somewhat different for the English version. Characters have more pronounced accents, like Fran's Icelandic accent, and the writing in the Bestiary entries was given more flair to give the impression of Ivalician journal entries. **Localizers decided to have the actor who played Gabranth (Michael E. Rodgers) mimic the twin brother Basch's voice (voiced by Keith Ferguson) in the scene where Gabranth is impersonating his twin. In the Japanese version the actors' voices play over one another to give the scene the quality of a dream-sequence, but the translators opted to go for the more "realistic" sound. **In the Japanese version, movie subtitles are on by default, but in the English version are off by default. The otherworldly quality of the Occurian speech was thus changed, which was difficult to follow without subtitles. Final Fantasy XII International Zodiac Job System Release *Japanese release on August 9th, 2007. Version differences System *Addition of a "Zodiac Job System" featuring twelve jobs with individual License Boards corresponding to twelve zodiac signs. *Addition of a 16:9 widescreen mode with menus and HUD at 4:3. *Addition of three new game modes: **Trial Mode—a 100 stage gauntlet—can be entered from the title menu provided the player has a save file of the main game. It features a new battle against all five Judge Magisters as the final trial. **New Game+ Strong Mode—unlocked after clearing the original game. All characters start at level 90 and level up normally. Only configuration settings are carried over. **New Game+ Weak Mode—unlocked after clearing Trial Mode. All characters start at their original levels (1/2/2/3/3/3) and never level up. Only configuration settings are carried over. *Pressing will speed up gameplay. Conversations and events continue to play at normal speed. *The game features English voices. Some previously unvoiced event scenes now feature voices and new scenes have been added. *Quickening doesn't consume MP. Now they use their own Mist gauge similarly to Limit Breaks from previous ''Final Fantasy titles. *Several changes have been made to the UI. Windows that were previously blue with a white border are now a solid "moss blue" color. **In the battlefield menu, character job names are now displayed next to character portraits and the LEADER text has been replaced. The charge time gauge is green instead of orange when filling. There is a new, separate Mist charge gauge in place of the HP and MP gauges, which have been removed. **The party menu screen now features job names and LP amounts. Overflowing status icons are displayed over top of them. Mist charges are rectangular instead of round and change color when filled. Characters *Playable characters' starting LP, consumables, gil, gambits, equipment, and licenses have been modified. *Playable characters' base stats have been altered. *Guests have undergone a number of changes: **They can gain EXP and level up. **They come equipped with better equipment. For example, both Lamont and Reddas can now attack flying targets with their basic attacks. **In general, guests are now capable of using a wider variety of magicks and abilities. **The player obtains consumables and gil from guests who join the party. **The items guests consume now expend the player's inventory. Battle system *Party members' base stats are overall better than in the original (though their HP totals are slightly lower, but offset by more HP augments available on the boards). *Many magick spells and technicks have been tweaked, renamed and recategorized. Also, Green Magicks can only be purchased from the Clan Provisioner. *The following magicks and technicks are only found inside treasures chests: **White Magicks: Renew, Cleanse, Dispel, Despelga, Protectga, Shellga, Bravery, Faith, Regen, Holy. **Black Magicks: Flare, Scathe, Blind, Blindga, Silence, Silencega, Sleep, Sleepga, Poison, Toxify. **Time Magicks: Haste, Hastega, Countdown, Float, Vanish, Reflect, Reflectga, Balance, Warp. **Arcane Magicks: Death, Ardor. **Technicks: Telekinesis, Numerology, Sight Unseeing, Charm, Achilles, Infuse, Gil Toss, 1000 Needles, Revive, Stamp, Shades of Black, Bonecrusher, Wither, Addle, Expose, Shear. **Fire, Blizzard, and Thunder now damage all targets within an area of effect. **Cure now heals all targets within an area of effect. *Technicks were made to target only enemies (apart from the healing/reviving ones and the one's used on the self), and thus the player can no longer reflect spells off allies with Shades of Black or Stamp allies for buffs. **Souleater is now slightly more powerful. **The stat break abilities (Wither, Addle, etc.) have a slightly better accuracy. *Some damage-boosting augments have been made better. E.g. Focus is now a 1.5x damage multiplier as opposed to 1.2x from the original. *Certain gambits have been renamed and sixteen new gambits are available. All can be bought after leaving the Barheim Passage. Gambits can no longer be found in treasure chests. *Obtaining Quickenings no longer affects max MP and Mist charges do not diminish when MP is consumed (unless the player is affected by a reversed Elixir or Megalixir). The player's MP is also unaffected by the depletion of Mist charges. However, effects that recover the player's MP will also restore Mist charges. One Mist charge is granted each time the amount recovered totals the player's maximum MP. Effects that fully restore a player's MP recover all Mist charges. *Espers have been made more powerful and their summon durations have been increased from one minute and thirty seconds to four minutes and ten seconds. Adjustments have been made to stat parameters, gambits, augments, and actions. They now require MP to cast magicks. As every Esper's HP has been greatly boosted, the Espers whose damage scales from max health are even stronger still. *Certain Concurrences now require fewer Quickenings to activate. *Certain status effect and item relationships have been changed. *Certain status effects have had their duration formulas adjusted. *Almost all attacks now break the 9999 damage limit from the original by default. *Unarmed combat has been adjusted. *Battle chains begin at 2 instead of 1. The first monster defeated is considered the first chain, although nothing is displayed until a subsequent monster is defeated. Drop rate modifiers associated with chains have also been adjusted. *Battle animations and the CT and combo times have been tweaked to be more favorable to players. *Many enemies have been slightly tweaked, but new ones have not been added (aside from Trial Mode). Changes include adjustments to parameters, magicks, technicks, augments, movement patterns, as well as steal and drop items. In some cases, players will need to adopt new strategies against monsters. **For example: Safety no longer nullifies Numerology, Wither, and Addle. **Archaeoaevis in the Zertinan Caverns middle area is now much harder to kill due to its immensely improved stats: its HP now ranges from 161,622 to 961,622, depending on its level (their levels are random between ~50 and 99), and it can inflict Confuse, Sap, Poison, and Disease on the entire party. Items *New items have been added, such as Cura Mote, Bubble Mote, Domaine Calvados, Baltoro Seed, Dark Energy and various Meteorites. *Bacchus's Wine now has 100% chance of inflicting Berserk (previously it was 50%). *Several equipment pieces were added, while some available in the original release were removed or tweaked. *The treasures in Site 2 will disappear and never respawn after Ba'Gamnan attacks the party. If the player defeats Ba'Gamnan immediately, the treasures are still there, but exiting Site 2 means the treasures will disappear for good. This is deemed to be a glitch as it doesn't happen in the original version. The glitch persists in Zodiac Age versions. *Weapons **New "Final Fantasy" weapons were added that share the name and model of an existing weapon, but are more powerful in some way. These weapons have a letter at the end of their name, and if the player were to collect all of these new weapons, the letters would spell FINAL FANTASY. **New invisible super weapons were added that are very hard to obtain: Great Trango and Seitengrat. They don't have weapon models. **Bonebreaker and Bone of Byblos are weapons that use models that were dummied in the original version. **Some staves have additional elemental potencies: Cloud Staff now boosts damage from Wind, Thunder and Water, whereas it only boosted Water in the original. The Staff of the Magi now boosts Ice, Wind and Holy, whereas it only boosted Holy in the original. **Spears, poles, staves, and rods now hit flying enemies. High-level spears now have Disable on-hit property. The Zodiac Spear is now obtained from the Hunt Club sidequest or a rare chest in the Henne Mines. *Armor **Escutcheon no longer exists. Ashe joins equipped with a Buckler instead. **Gendarme is a new invisible shield that gives 90% Evasion and absorbs all elements. *Accessories **Berserker Bracers were added. **Armguard no longer exists. **Gauntlets now reduce physical damage when HP critical (Last Stand augment), rather then offering an extra Shield Block augment. No accessory offers Shield Block anymore. **The Diamond Armlet's properties were changed: before, equipping a Diamond Armlet gave a 90% chance of a regular treasure (money or a Knot of Rust) and 10% chance of a special treasure (there were exceptions, however). Now the chances are 95% and 5%, and equipping it no longer yields more money from treasures. However, the game no longer punishes the player by missing out on some special treasures if opened with Diamond Armlet, like in the original; special treasures are the same item whether the player equips the armlet or not. *Most shops had their assortments changed. Many weapons are now available from shops earlier because of the job system, and were thus made weaker. *The Baknamy merchant in the Necrohol of Nabudis is located in the Cloister of the Highborn instead of the Hall of Effulgent Light, with different merchandise. *Treasures respawn by moving just one area away as opposed to two. Treasures were moved around, changed the items they can give, or were removed altogether. The "forbidden chest" concept was removed, that in the original prevented the player from obtaining the Zodiac Spear in Necrohol of Nabudis if they opened a wrong treasure. *Dark Matter can no longer be acquired from the bazaar, and selling the ingredients needed to make it in the original will result in making the Dark Energy instead. The Dark Energy is an item that does not charge up with Knot of Rust or Devour Soul and always deals 50,000 damage to each enemy in range. Missions and sidequests *Rewards for hunts underwent minor changes. *Numerous sidequests feature different rewards. **The reward received for repeating the sunstone powering quest now depends on the amount of time it takes the player to fully charge the Shadestone. The player receives 200 gil, two Potions, and a Holy Stone for returning within seven minutes, 150 gil and a Holy Stone for returning within fifteen minutes, 100 gil for returning within 35 minutes, and 50 gil for taking longer than 35 minutes. **The rewards for giving Pilika her diary back have been changed to a Bangle and a Jade Collar, depending on whether the player says they read it or not. In the original version answering "Read it", acquires a Kilimweave Shirt, and answering "I've done nothing" nets a Shepherd's Bolero the slightly better reward. **Finding Renn in the great cockatrice escape quest now yields a Deathbringer rather than a Diamond Sword. **The rewards for the Ktjn sidequest are different. If she moves into Clan Centurio hall, the player will now get a Runeblade rather than a Platinum Sword. If she is found outside the clan hall, the reward is now a Hunting Crossbow rather than a Paramina Crossbow. The rewards for if she moves to Migelo's Sundries have been swapped around: Firefly if she is outside, and Fuzzy Miter if she is inside the shop. Locations *Treasure chests are now in different locations and contain different items. **''Zodiac Job System'' has 753 more chests, bringing the total number of chests to 1,676. *Certain weather effects occur under different conditions. *There are more traps throughout the map. Other *The Penelo held captive scene is included unlike in the original Japanese release. ''Final Fantasy XII The Zodiac Age This version is based on the ''International Zodiac Job System version. It has remastered graphics with high resolution textures and lighting effects. An auto-save function is implemented, and it supports up to 7.1 ch surrounded stereo mode. The original people responsible for the localization return for the English version ( Alexander O. Smith and Joseph Reeder. ) List of changes *Visual changes **High-resolution upgrades for backgrounds, character models, and all 2D parts including fonts. **High-resolution upgrades for movie scenes. **Introduction of current generation visual expression. **A glitch concerning Dyce's character model has been fixed. **Basch's (the red-vested model used for majority of the game) and Balthier's character models are glitched, where Basch's hair, and Balthier's hair, sleeves and earrings, never move in the wind and are static. **The Bestiary in the PlayStation 2 versions shows illustrations of the enemies (posed in-game models), but The Zodiac Age version shows 3D models instead. **The Gambits menu shows close-ups of each character's CG render, replacing the silhouettes from the PS2 version. *Sound changes **7.1ch surround support **High-quality voice support **English and Japanese voices (switch between them in the game configuration). **Original and newly re-recorded background music (switch between them in the game configuration). **Balthier's line in Nalbina Dungeons ("If you ask me, they're more executioners than judges.") is now out of sync with his lip movements. *Usability improvements **Shorter load times **Auto-save functionality added (game saves automatically when moving to each new screen, excepting boss arenas) **Improved high-speed mode and improved play time operability during high-speed mode **An overlay map. *Game balance **The game balance has been overhauled to make it easier. *Gameplay **A Second Board license has been added to each license board, allowing players to assign an additional board to each party member. Licenses are shared between both boards owned by a character. ** The Effect Capacity system that limited spell-casting in the PlayStation 2 versions has been removed. **Fire, Thunder, Blizzard, and Cure only affect a single target again. **In the International Zodiac Job System version, Trial Mode saves and game data saves are separated, because if the game data is overwritten by the Trial Mode save, the game data will be lost. In The Zodiac Age, players can save Trial Mode data to their main game save and receive items, but overwriting that save with a main game save will erase the Trial Mode progress. Items from the last stage cannot be saved. **Espers' HP values have been doubled, but other stats kept the same as in Zodiac Job System. **The information exchange quest in Archades now only requires three chops to proceed in the story, as opposed to the previous nine. *Other **There was originally an error in the bestiary for the seeq. Where "The Riddle of Myth" should have appeared, "Ahnas the Holy - Part Two" appeared instead, later repeated in its proper place. **The Sky Pirate's Den was initially removed in exchange for the trophy/achievement system. As of patch 1.04, the Den has been restored, and operates in concert with PlayStation Network trophies where applicable. **The introductory cinematic no longer plays when starting up the game. The player is taken immediately to the title screen instead. Square Enix recreated the original cinematic and showed it on YouTube to celebrate 1,000,000 units sold, and it was used to promote the PC version, but it has not been added into the game. **A new option is added to the title menu, "Credits," that plays a new credits sequence showing a number of credits new to the version of the game, and featuring a theme newly composed for the sequence by Hitoshi Sakimoto, "The Zodiac Age." The sequence features scenes from the game and new original artwork. Patch updates 1.01 *Addresses various minor bugs between GM and launch releases. 1.02–1.03 *Both patches fix very rare bugs that prevent a player from progressing in battle. 1.04 *Restores the Sky Pirate's Den feature previously removed in favor of the trophy system. 1.05–1.06 *Both patches fix bugs that may randomly halt a player's progress. *Other minor bugs addressed. 1.07 *Minor bug fixes Steam version In addition to the improvements added to the PlayStation 4 version over the PlayStation 2 original, the Steam version is further enhanced with new features: *60FPS *Compatible with 21:9 ultra-wide monitors - Up to three HD monitors can be used for a potential 48(16x3):9 experience. *New Game Plus and New Game Minus are now accessible from the beginning of the game. *Three background music options – The original, re-orchestrated and soundtrack versions are now available from the beginning of the game. *Maximized License Points and Gil - New functionality added to grant players max License Points and gil from the configuration screen. *Full controller support and Steam Trading Cards *Basch's and Balthier's character models have been fixed, making their hair and attires move dynamically in the weather and magick effects. Switch / Xbox One versions *It is now possible to reset and reassign jobs by talking to Montblanc. Resetting a job wipes its board and returns all LP and lets the player start anew. *It is now possible to switch between three different gambit sets. *New Game Plus now carries over belongings. *Game runs at 60FPS on Xbox One X. *On Xbox One, the current signed-in profile is shown on the top right in the main menu. **Pressing will change profiles. References External links *Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age – Differences/Extras Guide by Split Infinity Category:Final Fantasy XII